Stinkin' bobcat!

[TexasVet]

I have a bobcat picking off my chickens, one by one. At first, it would run out of the woods, grab a free-ranging bird, and be gone before you noticed. Then one day it ran out and grabbed a hen that was 15 feet away from me! So I haven't let my birds out to free range in days. Now it's figured out that it can run up to the fence, growl, and birds will fly out of the pen! And the pen is at least 50x50, so too large to cover. I thought I'd clipped everyone's wings, but I guess I missed a few. (I've got around 80, so it's had to keep track.)

I've set a trap and baited it with a dead rooster or two, but all I've caught is possums, coons, and a buzzard. I've tried dry cat food too, which worked last year, but isn't working now.

Needless to say, I HATE bobcats!

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.ChickenTrackin.com

 

[THough1956]

Even if you clip the wings, can't the Bobcat just climb in?

I know you hate it because it is getting your chickens, but I sure would love to see one. I know we have them somewhere in NC but I have never seen one in the wild, they are quite beautiful.

Tena

 

[TexasVet]

The cat could climb a tree and jump in, but I haven't seen any paw prints on the ground or scratches on nearby trees. The pen itself has a hot wire run about 6 inches above the ground, all around the pen, with another wire 6 inches from the top. And, of course, I've been locking them up at night.

This cat always attacks during the day. It's a pretty cat... except when it's got one of my birds in its mouth! I think it's a seasonal, migration thing, because I had another bobcat problem around the same time last year. (I got that one!)

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.ChickenTrackin.com

 

[MiddleMan]

Do you have a window that faces the yard area and a good rifle? if so, set out a bait of a small rodent like creature in a fishtank and then just wait. The cat will come to see about the boxed rat or hamster or whatever.

22-250 does very bad things to bobcats and coyotes.

Good luck to you.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

Quote:
Thats a really good idea.!!!

 

[clhbubba]

I'm sorry for your losses. We too are battling a bobcat. He's gotten several Muscovy ducks, a couple of call ducks, a Sebastopol goose and numerous chickens. I actually saw him sitting in our barnyard last Saturday at 2:30 in the afternoon. Until then we were only speculating that it was a bobcat. Was lucky enough to run him off before he got his meal. I borrowed a gun from a friend and camped out(didn't see him at all). We have put a hotwire at the top of the fence and have a trap set as well. All we have caught are possums. Keeping our fingers crossed we catch it. Hope you catch yours as well. A wildlife rehabber told me he wouldn't leave until there were no more poultry, goats, dogs or cats. I've never shot anything before but I am more than willing to in this case. Good luck to you.

 

[TexasVet]

I got this advice last year and it worked... bobcats won't enter a trap because they're smart and wary. But they will try to steal food from someone else's stash. So the trick is to cover the trap with a tarp or hay, so it looks like a tunnel or den. And for extra luck, set a leg trap just outside the mouth of the Havaheart and cover it with hay too.

Headed out now to check the trap and lock up the chickens. Had another possum in the trap this morning, so now he's the bait. (dead, not alive)

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.ChickenTrackin.com